Re: Saw blade for cutting mdf

Originally Posted by mlstrass

x2 smoother cuts. Plywood is usually a rough cut or 24t blade, not good for MDF...

No, it's definitely not. Plywood blades are almost exclusively at least 60T, and I've never seen a plywood blade under 48T. I use a diamond coated Dewalt 80T blade in my table saw, and I've been using it for years. It's never once burned my wood.

Re: Saw blade for cutting mdf

Originally Posted by dr_peeb

Any wood cutting blade will do. But the more teeth, the smoother the cut.

No, any wood cutting blade will not do. A cheap steel blade used for softwoods will burn your MDF like Joan of Arc and then go dull so you can't repeat the results. The second part of your statement is as true as it gets, to a point. Above 100T, and the blade can tend to not have enough bite to actually saw through the wood well. That's the realm of finishing blades, and they typically aren't suited to cutting sheet woods.

Re: Saw blade for cutting mdf

Originally Posted by PV Audio

No, any wood cutting blade will not do. A cheap steel blade used for softwoods will burn your MDF like Joan of Arc and then go dull so you can't repeat the results. The second part of your statement is as true as it gets, to a point. Above 100T, and the blade can tend to not have enough bite to actually saw through the wood well. That's the realm of finishing blades, and they typically aren't suited to cutting sheet woods.

Re: Saw blade for cutting mdf

Originally Posted by PV Audio

No, any wood cutting blade will not do. A cheap steel blade used for softwoods will burn your MDF like Joan of Arc and then go dull so you can't repeat the results. The second part of your statement is as true as it gets, to a point. Above 100T, and the blade can tend to not have enough bite to actually saw through the wood well. That's the realm of finishing blades, and they typically aren't suited to cutting sheet woods.

MDF is basically like paper. I've had no problem easily cutting it with a variety of less-than-sharp blades, and even routing the edges of it very nicely with less-than-sharp router blades. Maybe I should've said "any wood cutting blade with carbide teeth" ... but unless OP plans to make a living building boxes, or needs the blade to last a loooong time, or just wants to spend a lot of money on a saw blade, I still say any sharp wood cutting blade will work for him to make a box; True, it may be dull at the end of the job.

Re: Saw blade for cutting mdf

Originally Posted by dr_peeb

MDF is basically like paper. I've had no problem easily cutting it with a variety of less-than-sharp blades, and even routing the edges of it very nicely with less-than-sharp router blades. Maybe I should've said "any wood cutting blade with carbide teeth" ... but unless OP plans to make a living building boxes, or needs the blade to last a loooong time, or just wants to spend a lot of money on a saw blade, I still say any sharp wood cutting blade will work for him to make a box; True, it may be dull at the end of the job.

But you see, that's quite frankly a hopeless bit of reasoning. Why would you spend money on something that you KNOW will end up costing you more money and effort? If you drop 50-60 on an outstanding carbide or diamond tipped blade with 60T, you won't be changing that blade for years. If you drop 25 on a cheap steel blade, you'll be changing that blade after a few boxes because even if it's still sharp, it'll likely be warped or otherwise bent.